Christmas table: candle holders, centrepiece and understated pieces

A simple Christmas table setting is built on three heights: low lights between the plates, a centrepiece that lets guests see each other, a single elevated piece. Our LED candle holders, small fir trees, trio of pots and cake stand cost from €3 to €39, made to order in our Guérande workshop, in around twenty colours.

Three heights are enough to compose a festive table

A Christmas Eve table is viewed sitting down, at eye level. What rises above the gaze cuts off conversation. What stays flat disappears under the dishes. The composition that works consists of three levels, and each has its role.

Below. Points of light, placed between the plates or aligned in the centre: low candle holders, fitted with an LED tealight.

In the middle. The centrepiece, low enough so that you can see each other from one end to the other: a trio of pots filled with small plants, or two small decorative fir trees.

Above. A single piece that rises: a tall, narrow candle holder, or a footed stand that elevates a group of lights.

Simple does not mean empty. It means few pieces, simple shapes, two colours at most. The pieces in this article share the same register: surfaces in relief, ribs, undulations or bubbles, which catch the light without adding a Christmas motif. They remain in place after the holidays, on a console or a shelf.

The light comes from an LED tealight, never from a flame

All our candle holders are fitted with an LED tealight, never a flame candle. In red, each product page excludes the flame. The reason lies in the material: the PLA in which we print begins to soften around 55 to 60 °C. A lit candle heats its cup beyond that. The piece does not catch fire, it deforms, and the defect remains. The detail is explained in 3D-printed candle holder: which candle to put in it.

At the table, the LED has two practical advantages. It stays lit throughout the meal without supervision, even when children pass the dishes. And it leaves neither wax on the tablecloth nor paraffin smell next to the food.

A point of vocabulary. A photophore primarily refers to a glass cup or globe that shelters a candle. Our pieces are open candle holders: the LED tealight sits inside or on top, and the relief of the piece cuts its light. If you are looking for a Christmas photophore for the table, this is the use they fulfil, without glass.

Ondéa, Bubble and Lunar, the low lights between the plates

These three candle holders are low and wide, at the scale of an LED tealight, in a single size. The Ondéa (€3) has a swollen silhouette traversed by undulating ribs. The Bubble (€3) is made of a cluster of small spheres. The Lunar (€4) is a low, round volume with a twisted relief.

Place one piece between two place settings, or line up three to five in the centre of the table. An odd number reads better than an even number: three Ondéas in a line compose, two face each other. For a table of eight place settings, four Ondéas distributed between the plates cost €12, LED candles extra.

The three models mix without difficulty if the colour is common: three shapes, a single colour. It is the colour that makes the ensemble, not the repetition of the same piece.

The Shiro brings the vertical

The Shiro Candle Holder is narrow and slender: Ø 4 cm by 14 cm high, €14. Its cylindrical body is traversed by vertical ribs, its top rises in steps, and the LED tealight sits right at the top.

On a table, it is the high point of the composition. One or two Shiros in the centre, surrounded by low pieces, give relief without blocking the view, because the piece is narrow. Two Shiros and three Lunars in the same colour make a complete line for €40.

A low centrepiece, to see each other from one end to the other

A Christmas centrepiece that is too high separates the table in two: everyone talks to their neighbour, no longer to the person opposite. The rule is in one sentence: nothing, in the centre, rises above the eye line of a seated guest.

The Mitsu meets this rule. It is a set of three ribbed round pots, aligned on an oblong tray: 31 × 11 × 6 cm for the set, €39. Its product page presents it as a plant support, "ideal for dressing a table, a console or a shelf". It is configured in two colours chosen separately, Colour A and Colour B, at no extra charge.

For Christmas Eve, fill the three pots with small green plants, as in the photo on the product page. The drainage of this model is not indicated on its page: before installing a plant that you water, write to us. The difference between the two families of pots is detailed in cachepot or pot with drainage holes: which to choose for which plant.

Two small fir trees in the middle, instead of a bouquet

Another possible centrepiece: one or two small decorative fir trees, placed in the middle of the table. The GRAN (€10 in 13 cm) is a cone-shaped fir tree, made of superimposed ribbed tiers. The Havn (€16 in 14 cm, €27 in 18 cm) has a softer silhouette, in superimposed bulges, ending in a point.

At these heights, they do not cut off gazes. Two fir trees of different sizes, each in a colour from the table, surrounded by three low candle holders: the centrepiece is done. The Christmas collection brings together these fir trees and other seasonal pieces.

The Presentation Tray is a footed cake stand

Its name does not say it, its photo does: the Presentation Tray is a footed cake stand, a round tray placed on a ribbed foot. It costs €25, in a single size, and is configured in two colours chosen separately (Colour A and Colour B), at no extra charge.

Its product page intends it for showcasing "decorative objects, candles, perfumes or floral compositions". On the Christmas table, it becomes the high point of the centre: three Ondéas or three Lunars placed on it, with their LED tealights, form an elevated and luminous centrepiece, which takes up little surface on the tablecloth.

It can also accommodate dessert at the time of the Yule log, with two reservations. Its product page does not mention food contact: leave the log on its pastry box. And no hot dish on it, since PLA softens around 55 to 60 °C.

The Yuki Cloche, from the branch to the table

The Yuki family brings together ribbed Christmas decorations fitted with a ring: fir tree, bell, bauble and icicle, from €5 to €10. They are first made for the tree. The product page of the Yuki Cloche (€6, 6 × 6 × 7 cm) also intends it for table decoration.

A bell placed near each plate, in the colour of the table, marks each guest's place: eight Yuki Cloches cost €48. The Yuki Sapin (€5, 5.5 × 5.5 × 9 cm) can play the same role. After the meal, both join the tree by their ring.

Two colours for the whole table

A simple table fits in two colours: a neutral that carries the ensemble, a festive shade as an accent. All the pieces in this article are configured on their product page in around twenty colours and share the same colour range. Three combinations for Christmas, among others.

Deep Red and Ivory White. The red of Christmas, without gold or glitter: Bubbles or Shiros in Deep Red, Yuki Cloches in Ivory White near the plates.

Khaki Green and Wood. A table that recalls the forest, with the small fir trees in Khaki Green and the candle holders in Wood.

Matte Black and Marble Sandstone. More graphic, for the table on the 31st: the stand in Matte Black, the low lights in Marble Sandstone.

The colour does not change the price of any piece mentioned here. On the Mitsu and the Presentation Tray, two colours are chosen separately, Colour A and Colour B, always at the same price. The logic of combinations is detailed in personalised 3D vase colour: compose your own.

What these pieces support at the table

PLA is an indoor material, and the Christmas table is part of it. Three limits are to be known.

Heat. PLA softens around 55 to 60 °C: no hot dish on the stand, no piece placed against a serving warmer or next to the oven.

Flame. No flame candle, neither in the candle holders, nor placed on the stand. An LED tealight in each piece, and the table stays lit without risk to them.

Washing. After the meal, a damp cloth and a mild soap, cold. No boiling water, no dishwasher.

For the rest, these pieces are handled like any table object: the real solidity of a printed piece is detailed in a 3D-printed object, is it really solid and durable.

Printed after your order, in the chosen colour

None of these pieces are waiting in stock. Your order arrives at our Guérande workshop, the spool of the chosen colour is mounted on a printer, then the piece is printed, deburred, checked and packed. Allow 5 to 7 days of production before dispatch, then the delivery time.

In December, the earlier the order leaves, the more comfortable the margin before Christmas Eve. This is advice, not a guaranteed date: for a specific date, write to us before ordering. Delivery in France costs €6.90 per order, free from €80: four Ondéas, two Shiros, the Presentation Tray and the Mitsu make a complete table at €104.

The pieces in this article are found in the collections candle holders, Christmas, home accessories and pots. For those to whom you give them, our Christmas gift ideas made in France, by budget classify the catalogue by price tier. The operation of the workshop is told in an hour in the RE3DLINE workshop.